Minor Malfunction
by mikemun
Summary: Crygor has a bit of a breakdown. Mike tries to help. Crygor/Mike if you squint.


Mike hummed contentedly as he strolled about the lab, taking care of miscellaneous messes and bits of trash lying around. It was just a few months after his initial activation, and he was getting pretty used to life with the doctor.

Despite the occasional explosion, it was pretty peaceful on the island. Or, well, it was most of the time.

 **CRASH!**

Mike jumped, head automatically turning toward the source of the sound. It seemed like it had come from somewhere upstairs. It also sounded like both metal and glass crashing to the ground, which meant more work for him. Huffing, he grabbed a broom as he made his way up the stairs.

He checked each door as he passed, just in case, though he'd already figured out that it must have come from Crygor's science lab. Roughly 93.62% of the time if something broke, it broke in there. After all, it was where the doctor spent most of his time. He honestly spent more time in that room than he did in his own bed, which sometimes worried Mike.

Soon enough, he arrived at the right door. He'd brought a broom and a pan with him, ready to deal with whatever had happened this time. At least, that's what he assumed.

He opened the door and stepped inside.

The atmosphere of the room was... wrong. That's all he could think as he looked around, trying to piece together what had happened. There were some shattered beakers on the ground, some bent metal from whatever device he'd been working on. All in all, the damage wasn't that bad compared to the multitude of other accidents that happened on a fairly regular basis.

What was concerning, though, was Crygor.

The doctor was standing in front of the mess, his back to Mike. He hadn't even reacted when he'd barged in, not even offering his usual greeting, panicked explanation, or bashful apology for whatever he'd done this time.

Something was wrong.

Mike nervously approached Crygor, his worry building with each step he took. He went up to his left side, trying to get a better look at him, make sure he wasn't hurt.

Now that he was closer, he could see that the doctor's entire body was trembling. He was holding his hands out in front of him, staring at his palms, which were shaking worse than the rest of him. Despite this, he didn't seem to be injured anywhere Mike could see, which did give him some small amount of comfort.

"CRYGOR?" he said carefully.

Crygor didn't even look at him. He just kept /shaking/. Even his breathing sounded uneven and much quicker than it should've been.

Mike was completely baffled. Usually, he couldn't get Crygor to stop talking. This was completely out of the realm of normalcy for him.

He opened his mouth to try getting his attention again, but he was interrupted when Crygor finally broke the silence himself.

"Wh- where-" he choked out. He'd started to inspect his hands even closer now, moving them around and bending his fingers experimentally. "What happened to..." he started again, but his head suddenly snapped up, his eye scanning the room. "No, no, this isn't... right..."

Mike tilted his head, watching the doctor. He had such an odd expression on his face, one Mike had never seen before, at least not to this extent. He looked completely lost, and fear seemed to be overtaking him.

"No, no, no, no no no," he mumbled frantically, his breathing starting to get even more erratic. His hands now moved to grip the sides of his head and he started to sink to the ground, falling to his knees. He was now full-on hyperventilating, his visor's display becoming jumbled as it struggled to portray what he was feeling.

Mike dropped what he was holding and reached out to Crygor. "HEY, HEY. ARE YOU OKAY?" he asked, placing a hand on his shoulder and gently shaking him.

Still, Crygor didn't react to his presence. It was like he wasn't even there. Crygor was somewhere else entirely, and he wasn't okay, and Mike didn't know what to do.

He had to try and snap him out of it somehow. He moved to kneel in front of Crygor, bringing a hand up to hold the doctor's face, gently tilting his head to face him.

"CRYGOR," Mike said, keeping his tone even. "LOOK. I'M RIGHT HERE." He wasn't sure what to say, really. He just needed to bring him back, somehow, from... wherever he was. Make him see _Mike_ , instead of whatever he was seeing right now.

Crygor continued to tremble and panic. Mike wasn't sure if that was sweat dripping from under his visor, or tears.

He'd never seen him cry before.

Mike's chest ached. He was completely lost, totally out of his comfort zone. Still, he had to try. He knew he had to try.

Very softly, Mike started to play a song. Tacky, but it _was_ what he was made for, after all. The doctor usually liked to listen to music as he worked, and Mike had pretty much figured out his tastes by now. Songs he listened to when he was sad, songs he listened to when he was frustrated, and songs that got the man out of his seat and dancing about the room.

Mike decided to go for something more soothing, a familiar song that Crygor liked to listen to when he was having trouble sleeping, or just needed to quiet his loud, fast-paced thoughts.

For a few moments, there was no real reaction. Mike was about ready to give up when Crygor finally seemed to hear it, his breathing slowing just a bit, and his visor starting to come back into focus. The red dot flickered about, still, but much less erratically than before. Slowly, it came to rest near the bottom of the screen, looking down at Mike's speakers.

"I... M-Mike?" Crygor mumbled, still struggling to come back to himself. Instead of being completely consumed by fear like he was only moments ago, he now just looked... tired. Lost.

Mike could've cried in relief when Crygor finally acknowledged him.

"IT'S ME. I'M HERE," he affirmed, bringing up his hands to gently rest on Crygor's shoulders. He wasn't sure _why_ he felt so inclined to just touch him like this. They definitely weren't very touchy-feely, but he had a strong urge to stay close, keep him in place, make sure he wasn't going to go away again.

Crygor visibly seemed to relax at this. Nearly all of his energy seemed to have been drained by whatever had just happened to him, and he weakly leaned forward to press his head against Mike's chest.

"Thank goodness," he said softly, closing his eyes.

Impulsively, Mike did something a bit out of character for him. He wrapped his arms around the doctor, giving him a small squeeze. He wasn't entirely sure why he kept feeling the need to do these things, but it seemed to be helping. He could even feel Crygor gently hug him back.

They stayed like that for a while. They weren't sure how long, exactly, as neither of them really seemed to care enough to keep track of time. Eventually, though, Crygor pulled away. He seemed exhausted, still, but he felt more like himself.

"I'm sorry about that, Mike. I, ah. You weren't supposed to see me like that," he tried to explain. "I, er, forgot to take some rather important medicine. I just get so focused on what I'm doing, sometimes, and I just-"

He sighed, hanging his head. He seemed truly apologetic, even embarrassed, over what had happened, but Mike didn't understand why. If he was sick, then he should just take his medicine. He could help with that, easy.

"WHERE IS IT?"

Crygor blinked. "Where is what?"

"THE MEDICINE."

"O-oh. It's in the cupboard next to the fridge. I usually have a cup of tea with it, you see, because dry-swallowing pills can actually be incredibly dangerous. In fact, some people have actually had _holes_ burned into their esophageal lining from d-"

Crygor was interrupted as Mike suddenly stood up. He was about to open his mouth to speak again, but all that he managed was a startled yelp as Mike _scooped_ him up in his arms without hesitation.

"P-put me down!" he sputtered indignantly, squirming in Mike's arms. "I don't need to be carried, I'm a grown man!"

Mike completely ignored him and made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Despite Crygor's outburst, he gave in surprisingly quick, allowing Mike to carry him with ease. That didn't stop him from pouting the entire time, however.

Oddly enough, Mike strolled straight past the kitchen when they finally reached it, instead opting to bring the doctor into the living room. He made his way toward the biggest, comfiest armchair in the entire lab and carefully set Crygor down on it.

"Wait, I still have work to be doing-"

"STAY RIGHT THERE," Mike said sternly, tone nearly identical to the one Crygor used whenever he scolded him. The irony wasn't lost on him, either. He pouted again and crossed his arms, leaning back in the seat and gazing around the room idly while Mike did who-knows-what in the kitchen.

Only a few minutes later, Mike was approaching Crygor with several pill bottles in one hand and a freshly-brewed cup of tea in the other. He realized that he hadn't really told Mike exactly what medicine he needed, so he'd just brought them all. The kindness of the gesture made him smile.

"HERE." Mike set the teacup and the various medicines onto the table next to his chair, careful not to spill anything. Before Crygor could thank him, Mike was walking away again. Furrowing his brow, he carefully grabbed the tea, blowing on it before taking a tentative sip.

Oh, wow.

Mike had obviously been paying attention to how he usually made his tea; this was spot-on! A little sweeter than he usually preferred it, but it was definitely something he could enjoy at the moment. He took one more sip before setting it down and sifting through the bottles to find the much-needed medication.

Crygor was surprised at how calm he felt, really. Normally he'd still be a mess after missing a dose for this long, but Mike's unexpected gentleness had really put him at ease.

After locating the pill, he swallowed it down easily with a mouthful of tea. He allowed himself to just lean back in the chair, closing his eyes for a moment to let the silence soothe him.

He nearly jumped out of the chair, though, when Mike came back again, suddenly throwing a blanket over him.

"What-"

"TAKE A NAP."

"But it's so early! I can't waste the whole day-"

"DID YOU TAKE YOUR MEDICINE?"

"Well, yes, I-"

"GOOD. NOW SLEEP. YOU LOOK LIKE HELL."

Crygor could have sworn he programmed in some tact when he'd originally made Mike. God knows what happened to that. Still, he knew the robot was just as stubborn as he was (if not _more_ ), and arguing wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Plus, he really was exhausted. A nap sounded.. nice. Really nice, actually.

"Fine, fine," he grumbled, adjusting himself into a more comfortable position, "You win."

"I ALWAYS DO," Mike replied with zero hesitation.

Rolling his eyes, Crygor pulled the blanket close to his chest, leaning against the side of the chair. It didn't take long for tiredness to really start setting in, and soon he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

He realized that Mike was still just... there. Watching him carefully.

"Do you need something?" he mumbled.

"...NO," Mike replied after a pause. He went to sit in a nearby chair, crossing his arms and leaning back. He had an odd expression, and he tried to look anywhere but at the doctor.

Crygor was a bit confused at first, but studying Mike's face for a few moments seemed to confirm his suspicions.

Mike was still worried. He was probably trying to stay close to him in case anything else happened. As guilty as that made Crygor feel, it also made him feel strangely relieved.

He was a very private person when it came to his 'issues'. He didn't like to think about them, much less talk about them. He'd tried very hard to hide this part of himself from Mike, but he should've known something would happen sooner or later.

He knew it was unlikely, but part of him had feared losing Mike. Scaring him away. Even though their relationship was a bit odd, and sometimes rocky, he wasn't sure if he could bear losing him.

The fact that Mike was so quick to attempt to help him and so hesitant to leave him alone after such an incident was a huge relief. If he wasn't so emotionally and physically drained, that alone would have him weeping like a baby.

Lost in his own thoughts and drowsy from the medication, it wasn't very long before Crygor was finally drifting off, his breathing slow and even.

Mike still sat nearby, silently watching the doctor sleep.

The strange feeling was in his chest again; a warm, tight feeling that he couldn't quite describe. It felt a bit like suffocating, he thought, if his understanding of the concept was correct.

Somehow, it didn't feel all that bad.


End file.
